


Cygnet

by SharkGirl



Series: Sousuke's Birthday Bash 2016 [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Brotherly Love, Captain!Nitori, Gen, Implied SouRin if you squint, Post-Canon, Precious Duckling, minimal angst, sousukesbirthdaybash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-15 01:09:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8036374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkGirl/pseuds/SharkGirl
Summary: Some captain he was.





	Cygnet

**Author's Note:**

> It's Day 2 of Sousuke's Birthday Bash! And here I am with a cutesy SouTori fic.  
> Sousuke is more of a big brother/dependable senpai in this, so it's not romantic. In fact, if you'd like, you can assume there's SouRin going on, haha. (It's me, after all)
> 
> _Cygnet - young swan_  
>  This fic ~~barely~~ has an underlying Ugly Duckling theme. But we know Ai will turn into a beautiful swan~ (or something)  
>  In fact, originally, I meant for this story to be an AU starring Nitori, but I decided on this fic instead.
> 
> Partially beta'd by indevan~♥  
> Please enjoy!

Ai could see the wall.  It wasn’t far off, tinted blue and in shadow, the lines on the bottom of the pool illuminated only by the light from the moon coming through the large windows of the natatorium.  He was almost there.  Just a few more kicks and…

He surfaced, sputtering and ripping off his swim cap and goggles.  He most definitely had breathed at the wrong time just before touching the smooth surface of the title.  He’d sucked in warm, chlorinated water, which set his throat on fire.  He coughed a few times to try to get it up.

Finally, he was able to breathe normally again, his throat still burning as he leaned heavily against the pool’s edge.  Lethargically, he lifted his arm out of the water to check his watch.  It was still running, but, even if he did the math and assumed he’d taken a full minute to recover from his less-than-stellar finish, he was nowhere near where he needed to be.

“Damn it…” Ai groaned, scrubbing at his face with pruney fingers.  He’d finally started feeling good about his times and now this.

Then again, he was practicing his secondary stroke.

But freestyle was supposed to be the easiest.  So, in theory, he should have been able to go faster.

Some captain he was.  He couldn’t even touch the times his predecessors boasted.

He didn’t have amazingly strong back muscles like Mikoshiba, whose arms sliced through the water like a hot knife through butter.  And he didn’t have near the upper body strength Rin possessed, with his dual mastery of both the butterfly _and_ freestyle strokes.

Ai was supposed to challenge every member of the team to a race.  They were supposed to keep going, heat after heat, until no one was left standing, all beaten by their unrivaled champion and leader, their captain, Nitori Aiichirou.

Again he moaned, burying his face in his hands.

“This sucks…”

“Out for a moonlit swim, Captain.”

Ai snapped his head up when he heard a deep, familiar voice.

“Sousuke-senpai!” he gasped, splashing water onto the other’s feet as he quickly brought his hands to his sides beneath the water, standing at attention.  “I was just-”

“Practicing?” The brunet had an eyebrow raised and his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket.  “How long have you been out here?” he asked with a slight frown.

“Um…I don’t know.” Ai wracked his brain.  He’d swum the length of the pool more times than he could count.  “Maybe half an hour or so?”

“Nice try.” Sousuke narrowed his eyes. “Lights out was over an hour ago and Momo said you’ve been missing since after dinner.”

“Oh.”

Had it been that long?

“You’re going to end up injuring yourself if you keep this up.” Sousuke crossed his arms over his chest. “Trust me. I know.”

Ai ducked his head, choosing to stare at the moonlight reflecting off of the water, rather than look up and see his upperclassman’s disappointed face.

“Ai, what’s going on?”

He did look up then, just in time to see Sousuke’s brow crease in concern.

“My…” Ai began, clearing his still scratchy throat. “My times aren’t good enough.”

“Are you kidding?” The taller man’s eyes widened. “Yours are the fastest on the team-”

“Not my breaststroke.” He brought a hand up and rubbed his upper arm. “My freestyle.”

“Since when do you-”

“I’m the captain now.” Ai swallowed. “I’m supposed to be the fast-”

“Is that what this is all about?” Sousuke ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “And here I thought you were better than Rin.” He shook his head, but Ai could see a fond smile grace his lips. “It’s about that captain challenge thing at the end of the year, right?”

Ai nodded.

“Rin only handed over the reins last week.” Sousuke sat down by the edge of the pool. “You know you have, like, an entire year to improve your times.”

“But I’m so far behind,” Ai lamented, staring stubbornly at the rippling water. “I’ll never be the captain Rin-senpai was…” he said, voice barley above a whisper.

Suddenly, Ai heard a splash and found himself beneath the surface of the water.  When he popped back up, he took a deep breath, wide eyes focusing on his fully clothed and now completely soaked upperclassman.

“Sousuke-senpai…what?” He blinked, still trying to figure out what happened.

“Your dedication is admirable,” Sousuke said, slicking his wet hair back. “But your method is stupid.” He closed the distance between them and placed a hand on Ai’s head, rubbing back and forth, turning his hair into a complete rat’s nest and nearly knocking the shorter boy over.  “Swimming for four hours straight isn’t going to make you faster.”

“But-”

“Rin and I only have a couple months left until we graduate.” He released Ai and rubbed his chin.  “And we’ve got testing and college entrance exams to prepare for-”

“Ah! I’m sorry I distracted you from your studies, Senpai!” Ai bowed low, smacking his face on the surface of the water, the wet slap echoing through the natatorium.

“Ai, let me finish.” Sousuke drew his brows down and then shook his head with a chuckle. “If you want to get faster, I suppose we could whip up a training plan for you.”

“R-Really?!” His heart felt like it was about to hammer out of his chest. “You’d really do that for-”

“Only if you promise to follow it to the letter,” Sousuke said sternly and crossed his arms over his chest.  “And if you _ever_ pull another stunt like this, you’ll find I’ll be much less forgiving.”

“Oh, thank you, Senpai!” Ai beamed, ignoring the older teen’s warning tone and gripping the soaking sleeves of his jacket.  He yanked Sousuke’s arms down so he could grab his hands, taking them in his. “I won’t let you down!”

Sousuke looked at their joined hands and snorted.

“See that you don’t.” He pulled one hand free and mussed Ai’s hair again, pushing his wet bangs out of the way and kissing his forehead.  He took a step back and cleared his throat.  "Ah," he gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry. Force of habit." Then he turned and pulled himself out of the pool, his sopping clothes dripping on the tile.  “Now, towel off and get some sleep,” he paused and then grinned, “Captain.”

Ai watched Sousuke’s back as he walked away.  He lifted one of his hands out of the water to press a palm against his forehead.

It was still warm.

He brought his hand down and formed a fist, feeling more determined than ever.  He could do this.  He could.  With his senpai’s support and training, he was sure he’d be able to-

“Ai, speed it up!” Sousuke called from the doorway to the locker room.

His cheeks flushed and he nodded, pulling himself out of the pool with a smile plastered on his face.

“Yes, Sousuke-senpai!”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure who the audience for this fic was, but...if you made it through and liked it, let me know!
> 
> Or hit me up on tumblr [@jubesy](http://jubesy.tumblr.com)!


End file.
